“A Negro Man”: Prince Estabrook of Lexington

As the British under Lt. Col. Francis Smith marched out of Lexington on the morning of April 19th, they left behind them 18 American casualties. One of these men who suffered wounds that morning was Prince Estabrook. Estabrook was unlike the others who lined up that morning on the Lexington Green, Estabrook was an enslaved African American.

Prince Estabrook Service Record for June 1775

Born in the 1740’s and owned by Benjamin Estabrook there is little information on Prince’s life and family. Benjamin Estabrook operated a grist mill near Lexington and maintained a decent sized farm. Benjamin served in various positions in Lexington including coroner, justice of the peace and Selectman. He inherited Prince from his father and both men were near the same age. Prince enlisted in the Lexington militia in 1773 and his owner had to grant him the ability to do so.

Prince was there when the Lexington militia was called out on the evening of April 18th and remained at Buckman’s Tavern when the majority of the men returned to their homes when the British did not show that night. Early on the morning of April 19th, Prince was one of the 70 men who came back to the Lexington Green when Captain Jonathan Parker called for them to reform. As the men from Lexington faced the most formidable army in the world, color of skin no longer mattered. Once the firing began, bullets also did not recognize skin color or reasons for being there. Legend says Estabrook was struck in his left shoulder and was taken back to the Estabrook home near Lexington where he recovered.

What compelled this 30 year old to volunteer, swear an oath to a government and system

Prince Estabrook’s headstone

that kept him in bondage? Of course, there are no clear or singular reasons why any individual volunteers to go to war. But the case of Prince and hundreds of other African American volunteers is worth noting and studying. We know that his owner’s son, Joseph Estabrook was also on the Lexington Green that morning. Was there a sense of protecting home and family? Was he forced to serve? Was a hope of freedom by serving his motivation?

In the Salem Gazette after the fighting in Lexington and Concord, Prince was listed as being wounded at Lexington as “a Negro Man.” After recovering from his wounds Estabrook joined the growing American army in Cambridge in July 1775. He served as a member of the militia off and on for several years. In 1780 Estabrook joined the Continental service and served in the 3rd Massachusetts Regiment. After he gained his emancipation, Estabrook moved a few miles west to Ashby and lived with Nathan Estabrook, the son of his former owner. Dying around the age of 90, Prince’s personal life is a mystery. He is buried at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church cemetery. His headstone, placed in 1930 reads “Prince Estabrook, Negro Greaton’s Co. 3rd Mass. Regt, Rev. War”

Buckman Tavern, Lexington, MA

Estabrook was memorialized with the other Minutemen in 1949 on a memorial in Lexington. There was no mention of him being enslaved or his extraordinary circumstances. Finally in 2008, Estabrook was officially honored for being the first African American soldier to fight in the American Revolution. A small plaque on a stone was placed in Lexington on a small stone in front of Buckman Tavern. Facing the Lexington Green, the “Negro Man” was given the recognition that was long overdue.

In Honor of Prince Estabrook

Prince Estabrook was a slave who lived in Lexington. At dawn on April, 19, 1775, he was one of the Lexington Minute Men awaiting the arrival of the British Regulars at the Buckman Tavern. In the battle which followed, Prince Estabrook was wounded on Lexington Green. Through circumstances and destiny, he thus became the first black soldier to fight in the American Revolution. This monument is dedicated to the memory of Prince Estabrook and the thousands of other courageous black patriots long denied the recognition they deserve.